June 25, 2016

Inching Towards Freedom

Very close.

The typical reliability of a potential renter is somewhere around 50%. As in, flip a coin and I might show up for the scheduled showing. Flip a coin and I might fill out the application. Flip a coin and I may be telling the truth about whether I have enough roommates lined up to actually be able to afford renting your house.

So, there's been lots of in person tours and virtual tours given. Many people who seemed like great fits. We're comfortable that we're at the right price point given the interest we're getting. But boy is it difficult to pin these people down. I just want to get this process finished!

Many people have asked us why we don't use a rental management company. And at the end of this month-long process, I can say that they definitely bring a service that has value by insulating you from the ridiculousness that we've been dealing with.

But, also, one of the main reasons to use a rental management company is for the legal stuff. They are not cheap. And guess what? I can handle that. Today, at brunch, I was amused when a close friend asked, "What are you going to do about the lease?" I explained that it was on my Saturday todo list and that I had some Nolo residential forms, plus I'd reviewed about 100 commercial leases in the course of my career, all of which were available to me in my files, so I felt reasonably comfortable that I could pull something together that would cover what we needed without being ridiculous. He looked at me with a bit of surprise -- apparently, engineers who think you specialize in IP transactions are surprised to learn that "real property" transactions are not that different from patent, copyright, or trade secret "leases" (aka licenses).

In other news, the week was a bit of a write-off, work-out wise. I skipped all Tabatas but made up 2 today. Mileage was super low due to work and managing the rental applications plus driving to my home town, picking up my niece, driving back home, checking her into soccer camp, etc.

But at least we're gonna finish the puzzle before we head out for our Summer vacation with E's family.